Recently, the venture capital (VC) industry has experienced the entry of several new capital providers. Using US data on investors and their portfolio startups from 2000 to 2022, we document the emergence of a new type of investors: the micro VC. Our analysis reveals that micro Venture Capitalists (VCs) have an idiosyncratic investment strategy, which differs from traditional VCs. Compared with these investors, micro VCs invest in riskier startups, that is, early-stage ventures initiated by less experienced founders; yet, micro VCs are less likely to syndicate, stage their investments, and replace the startup founders. Additionally, startups funded by micro VCs are less likely to experience successful exits than those backed by traditional VCs. These results can be traced to a mix of smaller capital endowments, less sophisticated limited partners, and lesser human capital of which micro VCs dispose, and that may induce them to spread their thin capital across many investments to maximize returns. Our analysis also uncovers important differences in the strategies pursued by micro VCs and business angels.

中文翻译：

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微型风险投资

最近，风险投资（VC）行业经历了几家新资本提供商的进入。使用 2000 年至 2022 年美国投资者及其投资组合初创公司的数据，我们记录了一种新型投资者的出现：微型风险投资。我们的分析表明，微型风险投资家（VC）具有不同于传统风险投资的特殊投资策略。与这些投资者相比，微型风险投资公司投资的是风险较高的初创企业，即由经验不足的创始人发起的早期企业；然而，微型风险投资公司不太可能联合、分阶段投资和更换初创公司创始人。此外，与传统风险投资支持的初创公司相比，微型风险投资资助的初创公司成功退出的可能性较小。这些结果可以追溯到微型风险投资公司所拥有的较小的资本禀赋、较不成熟的有限合伙人以及较少的人力资本，这可能会促使他们将薄弱的资本分散到许多投资中，以实现回报最大化。我们的分析还揭示了微型风险投资公司和天使投资公司所追求的战略的重要差异。